


Terrible Things

by bearlywrite



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Implied Mpreg, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Omega Arthur, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 19:26:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13747680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearlywrite/pseuds/bearlywrite
Summary: Alfred's son, Peter, is curious about his mother and Alfred is forced to relive the best and worst moments of his life.





	Terrible Things

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of Mayday Parade's "Terrible Things", I recommend giving it a listen! I tried to keep it true to the song, but I had to add in my own little bits here and there to make the story make more sense!   
> Hope you enjoy!

Alfred watched with a smile while his son ran around the front yard. He was chasing his friends from the neighborhood across the field, playing a game of cops and robbers where he wanted to be a hero, just like his dad.

Peter was like him in many ways; outgoing, active, loud and oh-so-loveable. Alfred had received plenty of compliments on how enthusiastic he was in learning new topics as well as how friendly he was to the new kids in his class.

He was Alfred’s pride and joy, and these days, his only source of happiness.

Alfred felt a stab of pain emit from the center of his chest, and he willed the thoughts to leave his mind. He couldn’t bear to think about-

Luckily, his little ball of sunshine bounded up to him, ripping him from his darkening thoughts.

“Dad,” Peter said, running up to Alfred with a wide grin spread on his face. “guess what?”

He hopped up onto the seat next to his father, kicking his feet excitedly.

“What’s up buddy?” Alfred grinned, and he reached out to muss up Peter’s hair. It was a sandy blonde and unkempt as always, but it was slightly damp with sweat.

“I saw a really pretty omega!” the young boy exclaimed. Alfred felt a distant tug at his heart, though he pushed it aside. His son was an alpha, just like him, and he understood the excitement Peter was feeling. He’d felt that way too, once upon a time. “She smelled amazing Dad! Just like you said they do,” Peter’s eyes had a dreamy haze to them, one that Alfred knew was filled with thoughts of happiness and dreams of mating.

Childish enthusiasm was, again, something Peter had shared with him. But Alfred was not a child anymore, nor did he have the same naïve outlook on life.

No, he knew life could truly be terrible.

But looking at the joy and wonder in his son’s eyes made him wish that the world will show him mercy when it comes to affairs of the heart.

Alfred managed a tight smile aimed at his son, who was patiently waiting for his father’s response. Peter often looked to him for advice on Omega’s, and Alfred couldn’t deny Peter even though talking about all the things mates do together made his chest ache.

“I’m sure she does Peter,” Alfred hesitated, a mix of emotions flowing through him. “and, well, I’m sure a strong alpha like you smells good to her too.”

Peter beamed at his father’s compliment, but Alfred felt a strange sadness wash over him. Peter lived life with his heart on his sleeve. He was bound to fall in love with a beautiful Omega, but something inside Alfred wanted to shield Peter from love. He knew it was impossible, he was too much like him to let something like the prospect of a mate slip by him.

His eyes fell again to his son, blue eyes staring up at him and absolutely crushing his heart. His son had too much love to give, he couldn’t take that away from the world.

Peter cocked his head, unused to seeing his father so swept away in his thoughts.

“Dad, what’s wrong?”

Alfred felt a melancholic smile work its way to his face, memories of his first love flashing through his mind.

“I’m just thinking about your Mother,” Alfred said, and he knew that his eyes were filling with the sadness he tried his best to keep from his son.

Peter paused, silently taking in what his father said.

Alfred felt a small hand fall onto his bicep, and he turned to face his son. Peter now held a serious look on his typically enthusiastic face. It was odd to see his sunshine so serious. He supposed that’s how Peter was feeling as well.

“You never really talk about mom anymore…” Peter trailed off, his own voice filling in with a hint of sadness. Alfred nodded, reaching an arm around his son’s shoulders and pulling him closer.

“I know bud, it’s just…” Alfred sighed, and he knew that his hands were shaking. He hadn’t talked about Arthur to Peter in years. It just hurt too much. He felt like his heart was slowly grinding away to dust anytime someone mentioned him. “… it hurts to talk about him.”

Peter nodded slightly and the two sat in silence. His son’s hand was still gently placed on his arm and Alfred took comfort in knowing that sitting next to him was a part of Arthur and a part of him. Their beautiful baby boy gave Alfred the strength to go on.

“Peter,” Alfred said, his son turning to face him with questioning eyes. He felt his heart lurch in his chest, and he hesitated, the words perched on the edge of his tongue. Alfred closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, knowing that he had to be strong for Peter. “do you want to know more about your mother?”

Alfred watched Peter, his son’s eyes slowly changing from shock, to curiosity, to excitement. He’d never offered to tell his son much about his mother. He’d only shared that Arthur was the only omega he’d ever loved and that his mother loved Peter with all his heart. Peter knew nothing besides that, and when his son finally nodded his answer, Alfred knew he could no longer keep his mother from him. It was time to relive his fondest and his darkest memories. 

Alfred smiled, and sat back with his son, letting the memories wash over him like a wave. He figured the best place to begin was the very start, the moment he laid his eyes upon Arthur Kirkland.

“Well, by the time I was your age I’d give anything to fall in love,” Alfred chuckled, memories of following any and every omega that passed him by flooding his mind. Once he’d learned he was an alpha he became obsessed with finding his mate. Most thought he was crazy, as he was only thirteen, but he knew that there was a beautiful omega out there, waiting for him. “it was all I could think about.”

Alfred looked down at Peter, his son watching him with rapt attention. He let his eyes fall from his son’s as his mind continued to flood with memories he’d kept dammed up for years.

“That’s when I met your mother, the man of my dreams,” Alfred said.

It was when he was in the eighth grade that he’d met him. He was running across the field after school for football practice when he’d just so happened to turn and catch sight of a man sitting beneath a shaded tree, a book propped against his leg.

He remembered being completely enraptured by the serene calmness that surrounded the boy under the tree. He didn’t even notice he’d strayed from the field, or that he was standing only a few feet away from the boy under the tree. It wasn’t until the boy looked up and caught his eye that he noticed how far he’d strayed.

And in that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“He was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen.”

The moment their eyes met, Alfred knew he’d just found his mate. He found himself drowning in emerald seas, and when they widened slightly in shock, and a soft blush had spread across pale cheeks, Alfred was gone. He was a man lost in the emerald seas, and he was okay with never coming back.

And they had stared at each other, unmoving, lost in their own world of serenity. Alfred remembers the faint scent of tea leaves and rosemary flutter towards him, and the way the sunlight illuminated his soft hair in the most angelic of ways. He’d committed every detail about the beautiful man under the tree to memory, and then the man had smiled.

He remembers feeling as though the heavens had just bestowed the most precious of gifts upon him, and he stared in complete awe as he watched the man stand from his spot beneath the tree.

“He walked towards me, and I swear it was like watching an angel. He always was so graceful, you know, he just had that aura surrounding him,” he took a moment to look at his son, and he smiled when he saw his son hanging on every word he said. So, he continued, letting the words fall off his tongue and reliving his most fond of memories. “and he’d said to me in his sweet English accent ‘Excuse me, could I tell you something?’, and for a second I had really thought I’d screwed up.”

Alfred laughed, remembering how he’d melted at his accent at first before pure terror swept through him once he’d processed the words. He didn’t know what the man would want to tell him when they hadn’t spoken a single word to each other.

“And I couldn’t exactly get words out, so I had to nod my head and you know what your mother said to me, Peter?” Alfred looked down at his son, the question causing him to scrunch his nose up like he did when he was deep in thought. It was quite endearing, like how Arthur would scrunch his eyebrows when he was deep in thought.

Eventually, Peter looked up at his father and shook his head. Alfred smiled, tightening his hold on his son, pulling him closer to his side.

“He said ‘I noticed you watching me, and I know I shouldn’t say this but, I can tell by your eyes that you’re in love with me’.”

Peter guffawed, pushing slightly away from his father to watch his face to see if he was lying. When Alfred only shrugged and nodded that yes indeed, the first few words his mother had said to him was such a bold statement.

“What can I say,” Alfred chuckled. “Your mom was something else…”

Peter only nodded and settled back against his father’s side, waiting patiently for him to continue his story.

“Even though that was completely crazy to say to someone when you didn’t even know their name, he was right. They always say you just know when you find The One, and I guess they’re right. It just felt so right to be standing next to him, like it was my place to be,” Peter looked up at his father with a small smile. Alfred paused and looked down at his son, and he knew that Peter had a question perched on his tongue. “What is it bud?”

Peter paused a moment, collecting his thoughts. He looked off towards the field where Alfred assumed the pretty omega was. He turned back to his father, determination burning in his eyes.

“I think I know what you mean, daddy…”

Alfred bit his lip to stop the pained cry from spilling past his lips. Instead, he took a shuddering breath, willing himself not to lose it in front of Peter.

He was too good, and he was too pure for the torturous world of love.

“Now, Peter, listen to me,” Alfred said, turning his son’s attention back to him. “I’m only telling you this now because… you need to know,” he paused, trying to decide the right words. “sometimes life can do terrible things, Peter.”

Peter looked at his father, confusion evident in his eyes, and yet Alfred couldn’t get the explanation out from his mouth just yet. It was already a big step to talk about the fond moments spent with Arthur, much less… that…

Alfred tried his best to shake the thought from his head. He could hold off on that explanation and tell Peter the good side to their love story.

“You know, your mom and I used to watch the stars at night,” Alfred turned to look at his son, the boy now tilting his head up to look at the sky above him. Peter had always been quite fond of the stars himself. “I would take him up to this little hill on the edge of town and we’d sit in the back of my truck for hours, sometimes until the sun came up.”

Those were some of the best nights of Alfred’s life. It was just the two of them, wrapped in each other’s arms and watching the stars glimmer above them. Arthur always thought the stars were the most beautiful thing he’d seen, but Alfred knew that the stars didn’t compare to Arthur. For Alfred, there was nothing more beautiful than Arthur.

“That’s where I proposed to him too, you know. Up on the hilltop, underneath the stars that brought us so close together.”

When Alfred looked back to his son, he swore he saw a glitter in his eyes that took him back to that moment, down on one knee, proposing to Arthur. It was that same kind of glitter that Arthur had in his eyes back then, a look of pure love and adoration.

“Dad,” Peter said softly, tugging on Alfred’s shirt sleeve. Alfred gave him a questioning look. “can you take me to that hilltop one day?”

His son looked up at him, blue eyes still shining, and Alfred felt his heart constrict in his chest. That look never failed to get him, it worked for Arthur and now, it worked for their son.

Alfred nodded numbly, the thought of going back to the hilltop that held so many dear memories one that both excited and terrified Alfred. He never ventured to that hilltop without Arthur, and he hadn’t planned to. But the excitement in his son’s eyes was too bright to deny.

“I suppose we can visit there,” Alfred said, hesitantly. “I’m sure your mother wouldn’t mind me taking you to our special place.”

The smile Peter gave him was blinding.

In truth, Alfred knew Arthur would be ecstatic to show Peter where they fell in love. He knew Arthur would have loved to take him up to that hilltop and show him the stars that had shined down on them the night Alfred proposed. He knew Arthur would sit in the back of the truck as he always did and watch with a smile while Alfred chased his son around the tree that sat proudly atop the hill.

The same tree Arthur is bound to for the rest of time.

Beside him, Peter was smiling, looking up at the sky and talking about how he couldn’t wait to see his parent’s special place. As he began talking about the stars, Alfred’s thoughts began to escape him. All he could think about was how innocent Peter was, and how much he wanted to him keep his optimistic view on life.

“Peter,” Alfred said, gaining his son’s attention once more. His innocent eyes found Alfred’s, a smile once again lighting up his face. Alfred felt sick to his stomach. “you love with all your heart… I hope and pray that the world lets you stay that way.”

Peter cocked his head slightly, confused. Alfred felt a melancholic smile creep to his face.

“I used to be just like you, until…” he trailed off, the words getting caught in this throat. He didn’t want to speak them out loud. He’d been denying them for nearly ten years.

Silence hung between the two until Peter cleared his throat.

“Until what dad?”

Alfred had a far-off look clouding his eyes, his mind already replaying the memories of that horrible day. The day that they had found out, the day that marked the beginning of the end.

Alfred felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes, and he turned his face away from his son so that he wouldn’t be able to see them as they began cascading down Alfred’s tanned cheeks.

“Your mother…” Alfred had to pause and contain a sob that threatened to spill out past his lips. He could feel Peter’s hand clutching him once again, and Alfred felt his composure shatter like glass.

Arthur was never given the chance to watch their son grow into the remarkable little alpha he was now. Arthur never got the chance to see him walk, or talk, or watch how he buried his nose into a book. He never saw his first football game or his first school play.

He would never see him graduate, he would never watch him marry, or have children of his own. All the dreams they had for their future were meaningless without Arthur by his side. But with the reassuring hand of his son, he knew that there was still meaning to this life. And when he felt the calming breeze pass by him, ruffling his hair in such a familiar way, he knew that Arthur was watching.

“I remember the day well, Peter. The day your mother and I got the news. You were so tiny then, barely three months old…” Alfred said, finally turning to face his son. Peter’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of his father’s tear-streaked face, but when Alfred felt a squeeze on his arm, he knew that his son still saw him as his hero.

“Arthur, your mother, he knew something was wrong when he felt the lump. I forced him to see a doctor, and when he came out I just knew something was wrong,” a tear slipped down his cheek. “he told me he had some terrible news.” Alfred’s voice cracked at that, and just like that he was transported back to that day, in the hospital with his mate beside him.

Arthur had sat him down then and took his hand in his smaller one. He kissed each knuckle and then looked up into this mate’s eyes, shining with tears.

He’d said with a shaking voice ‘It seems that I’m sick,’ and Alfred’s world came crashing down. But he held strong, and squeezed his mate’s hands in his own, telling him that they would make it through this. That he’d fight, and he’d survive, but Arthur shook his head. Tears were falling from his beautiful eyes and he’d reached a hand up to cup Alfred’s face. With a sad smile he whispered, ‘I only have weeks, Alfie…’

And they cried. Alfred had pulled Arthur into his arms and held him there as tight as he could, as if he’d disappear at any minute and Arthur clutched onto him, not wanting to let go. And when they couldn’t cry anymore, Arthur had reached up and wiped away the tears staining Alfred’s cheeks and replaced them with peppered kisses.

He’d looked at him then, with all the love and adoration his eyes could hold, and he ran his fingers along the back of Alfred’s neck. He leaned in and placed a soft, gentle kiss on his husband’s lips, and rested their foreheads together. He whispered into their shared breath ‘Please don’t be sad, love. You were the greatest thing that ever happened to me.’

Alfred was pulled from the story at the sound of a soft whimper beside him.

Peter’s eyes were filled with his own tears, his hands balled up into a fist to try and stay strong. Alfred reached out and pulled his son into him, and the boy finally allowed his tears to fall.

“I’m sorry, bud, I’m so sorry…” Alfred whispered, and he watched through his tears as his son reached out and buried himself into his father’s chest. “I’m sorry I kept your mother from you.”

He felt Peter’s hand clutch onto his shirt and felt the tears soaking into his shirt.

And then Alfred swore he felt another soft pair of hands join them and wrap around both him and Peter in a soft embrace. It was fleeting, but when Peter looked up at his father through his tears with a sense of wonder in his eyes, he knew he wasn’t the only one to feel it.

Alfred and Peter shared a smile, both looking to the sky to watch the clouds float past, and Peter excitedly pointed out one that was in the shape of a star. And as they sat there, watching the clouds slowly turn to stars as the night rolled in, Alfred thought he was wrong.

Arthur had seen Peter take his first steps and watched him say his first words. He’d been next to Alfred in the football stands and beside him during his son’s first play. He would see him grow up and marry and have children because Arthur was always with them.

And as his son fell asleep against his chest, and he was left to watch the stars, Alfred smiled truly for the first time since Arthur’s passing.

“I’m sorry it took me so long Art, but you leaving me really hurt,” Alfred whispered into the empty night air. The stars seemed brighter tonight, somehow. “We’ll go visit our special place tomorrow, so you’ll make sure to be there, right?”

The soft breeze that came and tousled Alfred’s hair was enough of an answer for him, and he picked his son up and turned to make his way into their house.

He paused at the door and turned whispering ‘I love you Arthur’ into the night, and when he turned to the door and passed the threshold into their house, a shooting star made its way across the dark night sky.  

**Author's Note:**

> I love this song and couldn't get it out of my mind so this was the result. I hope you all enjoyed! 
> 
> Tumblr: @thequietgamer


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